The recent outburst by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that he would “fail” Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe, who represents the FCT in the Senate in the next round of the general election, is most unfortunate and reprehensible. With that boastful comment, Wike succinctly told the world, particularly Nigerians, that a transparent and credible election is utopian in Nigeria.
If the power to elect political leaders truly lies with the electorate, Wike wouldn’t have uttered such gibberish. The senator’s offence was that she criticised Wike’s policies in the FCT, which are obviously elitist.
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The FCT had produced several ministers in the past who were of different political parties from those of the past senators. For instance, the immediate past senator of the FCT, Philip Tanimu Aduda, was elected into the Senate on three consecutive terms of 12 years on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), even when President Buhari and his ministers of the FCT were of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
When the PDP was in power, the FCT produced senators from the then-All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the person of Senator Jubril Wowo and others. The PDP ministers never threatened to “fail” the senators in the next round of elections. Both the past FCT ministers and the senators worked together for the development of the nation’s capital. But in the case of Wike, he has a different temperament.
Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe was elected on the platform of the Labour Party (LP). She defeated a three-term senator, Aduda, who was seeking a fourth term. Senator Kingibe had been trying to be elected into the Senate since 2003 until she triumphed in 2023 on a very popular mandate. Now Wike is ill at ease with her victory and has vowed to “fail” her in 2027 to make sure that his friend Senator Aduda returns to the Senate. How does Wike plan or intend to do that?
It will be extremely difficult or near impossible for Wike to “fail” that woman in 2027 except through rigging, which Wike seems to be very adept at doing. But he must realise that FCT is not Rivers State, where he determined who “failed” or “passed” in the past elections. Wike is neither from the FCT nor a Gwari man. He cannot come all the way from Rivers State and is determined for the FCT people to be their senator, no matter what power he thinks he wields as a minister. He’s not the first minister of the FCT, nor will he be the last.
He has boasted that what happened in the 2023 general election cannot happen again in the country, particularly the FCT. Wike should be reminded that the APC, which he belongs to in spirit but whose body seems to claim to be in the PDP, has never won any election in the FCT. In fact, if another election is held today, the APC and its candidates should be grateful to God if they get one percent of the FCT votes in a free and fair election. No reasonable Nigerian will vote for a party that has brought unprecedented hardship and hunger to the country, like the APC, unless that person is insane.
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By the way, Wike is a registered voter in his village in Rivers State. On the day of the general election, which he has boasted will “fail” senator Kingibe, both the presidential and the National Assembly elections will be held simultaneously. Will Wike transfer his voter card to the FCT and forego Rivers State, which is very important to President Bola Tinubu, just to make sure that he’s in the FCT to “fail” Senator Kingibe? Or, will he be in faraway Rivers State and be commanding those in charge of rigging elections for him in the FCT to ensure that they “fail” Senator Kingibe by all means? Does he have the political power to deliver both Rivers State and the FCT to the APC? Can he deliver the two “states” to President Tinubu and the APC simultaneously?
The FCT currently has no strong politicians who can wrest power from Senator Kingibe. Senator Aduda, the only visible friend of Wike, is still a member of the PDP, or so it seems. Will he defect to the APC along with Wike when the latter finally gets tired of his seemingly destructive agenda in the PDP? If Wike and the APC field Aduda as a senatorial candidate to make sure that he “fails” Kingibe, can Aduda defeat the sitting senator on the platform of the APC in a free and fair election? May God keep all of us alive to see how Wike can perform the dual magic of delivering the FCT and Rivers State to the APC in 2027.
Maduako, writes from Owerri via [email protected]m
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